Smash hit Star Wars TV series ‘The Mandalorian’ joins the NZ Mint’s expansive numismatic range

The New Zealand Mint has made Star Wars about the most comprehensively covered media franchise in coin history, just in the last five or six years. Have they covered everything? Of course not, as the acquisition of the franchise by Disney from Lucasfilm also led to an explosion in new content, something that seems to have no end in sight.

The reason for that is Disney +, the new streaming channel, which has enabled Star Wars to take advantage of the huge rise in both quality and quantity of TV over the last couple of decades. Apart from some critically acclaimed animated series, yet to see coin representation, the big hit has without question been ‘The Mandalorian’. Telling the story of one of the warriors from cult figure Boba Fett’s group, the series has been extraordinarily popular and deservedly so.

The new one-ounce silver coin takes a background style similar to that of the mints Star Wars Classic series, but the figure is coloured. In this case, the Mandalorian is clearly drawn in an animated cell style, rather than use a photograph from the series. You’ll either prefer that approach, or be disappointed by it. We like it, finding the photo-based issues, like the actual movie series, weak by comparison.

The obverse is the usual effigy of the Queen, and the packaging is first class, as always. We suspect this will be the first of many Mandalorian coins given the sheer popularity of the source material, so get prepared for baby Yoda!

SPECIFICATION
DENOMINATION $2 NZD (Niue)
COMPOSITION 0.999 silver
WEIGHT 31.1 grams
DIMENSIONS 40.0 mm
FINISH Proof
MODIFICATIONS Colour
MINTAGE 2,000
BOX / C.O.A. Yes / Yes